Archive for Professional Failure – Page 2

from Jean Calder

My daughter was three when Kelly Anne Bates died and five when her killer came to trial. Kelly Anne’s death was the first I had ever written about, certainly the first account of a homicide that I ever had published. I have never forgotten her, nor ever wanted to – though the circumstances of her death were truly terrible. I have not spoken of her to my daughter, but in a way, she has always been present as a part of our lives. Her dreadful death was one of the reasons that I set up For Our Daughters.

Kelly Anne Bates died at the age of 17, on 16th April 1996 in Manchester. She was murdered by James Smith, a a 49-year-old misogynist with a history of extreme violence towards women. Kelly Anne was just 14 when Smith first targeted her – and 16 when she moved in with him.

Kelly Anne was tortured over a period of four weeks before her death, kept prisoner and starved, tied by her hair to a radiator and a chair. A post-mortem examination of her emaciated body revealed she had suffered injuries on 150 separate sites, including a fractured arm and crush injuries to both hands. She had been beaten, stabbed in the face and body with scissors and forks, scalded, branded with a hot iron on her thigh and partially scalped. Her ears, nose, eyebrows, mouth, lips and genitalia had been mutilated and she had wounds caused by a spade and pruning shears. Smith gouged her eyes out, as the pathologist said “not less than five days and not more than three weeks before her death”. He also stabbed her in the eye sockets in the three days before her death. Finally, he beat her about the head with a shower head and drowned her in a bath.She had lost around 20 kg in weight and had not received water for several days before her death.

Peter Openshaw QC, the prosecutor said: “It was as if he deliberately disfigured her, causing her the utmost pain, distress and degradation … The injuries were not the result of one sudden eruption of violence, they must have been caused over a long period [and] were so extensive and so terrible that the defendant must have deliberately and systematically tortured the girl.” The cause of death was drowning, Openshaw said, adding: “Her death must have been a merciful end to her torment”.

William Lawler, the pathologist who examined Kelly Anne’s body, described her injuries as “the worst he had seen on a murder victim”. Peter Openshaw told the jury at Manchester Crown Court that her physical pain would have been intense, causing “anguish and torment to the point of mental breakdown and collapse.”

According to her mother Margaret, Kelly Anne loved children. She said “She was bright and bubbly” adding “She didn’t walk. She bounced.” Kelly Anne studied at a college in Hyde, Greater Manchester and had worked for a graphics firm. She was strong, was interested in sport and had played hockey, but by the time of her death weighed only seven and a half stone.

The court heard evidence from Smith’s ex-wife and girlfriends who told of his repeated violence and obsessive jealousy. He had come close to drowning two of them and Kelly Anne was not the first under age girl he had targeted. People noticed signs of violence on Kelly Anne well before her death.

Despite his age and history of extreme violence, the fact that Kelly Anne was legally still a child under the terms of the Children Act and for most of this period under the age of consent, nobody protected her, though her parents tried desperately to do so. Police and Social Services took no effective action. After her death, there were no appalled statements from politicians, no calls for a public inquiry.

Now, 18 years later, Britain is dealing with an epidemic of violent sexual abuse of teenage girls – and finally is beginning to believe them. But I have little doubt that before Kelly Anne died, she would simply have been seen – as so many abused girls were at that time – as just another ‘teenage slag’, a silly girl ‘consenting’ to abusive sex with an older man.

Kelly Anne was comprehensively failed – during her life by individuals and agencies who should have protected her and helped her family – and after her death by politicians who should have been outraged at the manner of her dying.

For Our Daughters is determined that she will not be forgotten.

A while ago, I spoke about her at a public meeting. I described For Our Daughters’ commemorative work as “a kind of resurrection”. When I went home, I began to write a poem about Kelly Anne which I called “The Resurrection of Kelly Anne Bates”.

That poem is printed below. Please read it and forgive its inadequacy. I am no poet.

The Resurrection of Kelly Ann Bates

Fire and water did for me
Hephaestus
Base metal laid me low,

You tempered me in plastic
And sculpted me in stone

But I have turned away from you
I have raised my head
I have heard the women singing
And know that I’m not dead

I hear the rasp of a beetle’s jaw
My sinews bind to the dust
I feel the sap in my ancient heart
As I burst from the earth to the air

My body grows like a wild oak tree
My legs like the mountain ash
My arms are filled with turtle doves
The sparrows sing to me

Great rivers stream from my wide mouth
my wings are full of air
My teeth are bright as the flaying knife
There’s music in my ear

The sea comes up to greet me
As I dance with my great feet
I hear faint sounds as your hammer pounds
But I have conquered fear

I set my heel upon your skull
I pound your iron to ash
I leave you a ride on the potter’s wheel
and a stone to break your back

I leave you a duck in your local pond
A bridle for your tongue,
I leave you the beat of myriad feet
For I do not dance alone

Died 24th May 2013

Margery Gilbey (88), known as Madge, died on 24th May 2013 in her care home in Sonali Gardens, Sutton Street, Shadwell, East London. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as strangulation and a stab wound to the neck.

In November 2013, Imran Douglas (18) pleaded guilty to her murder. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years.

Margery Gilbey was a well-known former cafe cook, described as an “old-fashioned East Ender”. Her son Alan (55) from nearby Bethnal Green, said she was a wonderful mother, the “kindest most gentle person”, who was loved by all who knew her. He added: “I can’t believe what has happened. She was a wonderful person and mother. She was very straightforward and kind – she had old-fashioned East End values. Everywhere she lived she was well-liked. The staff at the sheltered accommodation loved her and they have no blame for what happened. Now I just need to mourn. All this is just sinking in.”

Ms Gilbey had nursing care in first-floor accommodation because she had dementia and difficulty walking on her own. In the last few years she had been almost entirely confined to her bed.

Ms Gilbey was found covered in blood after Douglas, a convicted thief, ransacked her room, strangled her, stabbed her in the neck and left her to die in her bed. It was a crime described by a judge as “wholly gratuitous”.

Police were called at just after 4.30pm to reports of a burglary. A nurse walking past Ms Gilbey’s room spotted that her door, usually open, was closed. When she looked through the letterbox and saw him in the room, Douglas clambered over the balcony and escaped in a car waiting nearby. Ms Gilbey’s son Alan visited at that moment with her favourite fish and chip supper just as staff were raising the alarm. Together he and the care assistants found his mother already dead in her bed.

The Old Bailey heard Douglas went to Ms Gilbey’s flat with the intention of killing her.
After fatally wounding her, Douglas rummaged through her drawers with blood on his hands.

Imran Douglas was 17 when he killed Ms Gilbey. He had been expelled from six schools and had been put in a children’s home in Bow East London just days earlier.

Douglas made a reconnaissance trip to the flat the day before the murder, the court heard.
He tricked his way into the building pretending to be the grandson of a resident, then returned to his children’s home. The next day he gained access in the same way and headed straight to Ms Gilbey’s flat.

Detectives identified him on CCTV and went to the children’s home the same day. There they found his clothes covered in blood in a laundry basket, and a bag on his bed which had Ms Gilbey’s blood on it. Douglas initially denied murder, but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of his trial when faced with overwhelming evidence. He had previously been granted anonymity because of his age.

The court heard social services failed to heed warnings from Douglas’s own father that he was a danger. Judge John Bevan QC told him: “Clearly you have significant problems controlling your anger, and it is a tragedy that social services totally failed to have regard to the reality of the extreme danger you posed in May this year and will continue to pose in the future. It is in my judgement, and sadly, a crime at the top end of the scale of gravity. You used a knife to attack a defenceless and vulnerable old lady in the privacy of her own home, on premises you must have seen to be sheltered accommodation. You could have burgled her to her heart’s content without doing what you did. It seems you were observed being driven away in a car but you lack the courage to name your accomplice. You rooted through her property after stabbing her, leaving her blood on her wardrobe. It was wholly gratuitous and, I fear, callous.”

Detective Chief Inspector Graeme Gwyn said: “Margery was killed as she lay in her own bed, in a place where she should have been safe. To see such violence used against a defenceless, elderly lady was truly shocking.” He added “Only Douglas can explain why an attempted burglary had to end in murder. I would like to pay testimony to Margery’s family who have demonstrated incredible dignity throughout this difficult process.”

Ms Gilbey’s son did not attend court. He said: “Although I would clearly love to attend sentencing to see justice done for my mother, I cannot. If I were to see Imran Douglas in person, it would make him real to me. He would haunt me and I know those momentary flashes would be unbearable.”

Note: This report was drawn from reports in the Mail Online and Murder Maps.

Died 2nd June 2010.

Rachael Slack (38) and her 23-month-old son, Auden, were killed on 2nd June 2010, by her former partner Andrew Cairns (44), who then killed himself. Mother and son were stabbed to death at their home in Well Yard, Holbrook. Rachael Slack was an artist.

It was just six days after she had asked officers from Derbyshire Police to intervene when because Cairns had threatened to kill her and take the child.

Cairns, who was the father of Auden, stabbed the toddler to death in Ms Slack’s cottage in Holbrook, Derbyshire, before turning the knife on her. He then fatally stabbed himself, positioning himself on top of Ms Slack. Ms Slack was stabbed 32 times in the chest and back and Auden was stabbed 16 times.

In October 2012, an inquest jury in Derby found that mother and son had been unlawfully killed by Cairns, who went on to take his own life.

After a six week hearing Derbyshire police were singled out for criticism by the inquest jury. The jury ruled that police failings “more than minimally” contributed to the deaths.

The jury was told that Cairns’ mental health had declined since the break-up of his relationship with Ms Slack in 2009.

Evidence showed Ms Slack had been in contact with Derbyshire Police about her concerns about Cairns and his mental health after she told him about her new relationship and pregnancy. On 26th May 2010, Ms Slack drove him to the police station because she was worried about his behaviour. He was detained under the Mental Health Act, but released after an assessment by health professionals. A psychiatrist assessed him as at low risk of suicide and no risk to others.

The following day he was arrested for making threats to kill Miss Slack. He said “”You’re a ******* bitch for abandoning me and getting together with someone else and getting pregnant. I’ve given up everything to be with you, if you are going to make it difficult, I’ll make it more so, you’ve no idea of what I’m capable of, I’ll kill you and take him (Auden) with me.”

No action was taken and he was released on police bail after being warned to stay away from her.

The police had assessed Ms Slack and her son as being at “high risk” of homicide at the hands of her ex-partner, but they failed to warn her of the danger she was in, or to discuss with her adequate steps that could be taken to better protect them both – failures that the jury found “more than minimally” contributed to their deaths.

When asked by the Coroner why more hadn’t been done to protect Ms Slack, Detective Chief Inspector Goacher replied that the house was secure and that most “normal, reasonable individuals” abide by their bail conditions. He also confirmed the child was killed first in front of his mother.

Police also confirmed Cairns tried repeatedly to speak to Ms Slack by telephone, after he was bailed.

As the coroner concluded the inquest by warning of an “epidemic” of domestic violence in the UK, Ms Slack’s family repeated calls made by victims and relatives of those affected for a public inquiry into how the state fails vulnerable women.

The family’s lawyers told the Guardian they were suing Derbyshire police, mental health services and social services for failing to protect the mother and child. Ms Slack’s partner at the time of her death, Robert Barlow, said that “things need to change” in the way such cases are handled. He said

Dr Robert Hunter, the coroner for Derby and South Derbyshire, said he would be writing to the home secretary to call for changes in the law giving police greater powers to detain people suspected of domestic and sexual violence.

Hayden Slack, Rachael’s brother, said he wanted a public inquiry into domestic violence: “The space that has been left in our lives by the tragic loss of Rachael and Auden will never be filled and never should be. Rachael was a devoted mother, a beautiful and truly caring person with a positive outlook on life. We hope any failings identified as a result of this inquest will ensure lessons are learned that could protect the lives of other women and children threatened by domestic violence.”

Mr Slack’s lawyer, Sarah Ricca, said: ‘The particular tragedy of this case is that the lives of Rachael and Auden were lost after they were both assessed as being at high risk of homicide. Why did this assessment not lead to steps to protect Rachael and Auden?”

The national domestic violence charity Refuge also wants an official inquiry to investigate why victims of domestic violence are “still not getting the protection they deserve from the police and other state agencies”.

Karl Smethem, assistant chief constable of Derbyshire, expressed sympathy for Ms Slack’s family but said he was confident his force’s procedures for the investigation of domestic violence incidents met national guidelines in 2010. He said the force was actively investigating the threats Cairns made to Ms Slack at the time of the deaths adding: “We did take steps to ensure that Rachael and Auden’s home was secure.”

He said that as a result of two reviews the force had “developed and improved” its domestic violence policies and procedures. The inquest heard that Derbyshire police have now told officers to make it clear to victims if they are deemed at “high risk” of homicide.

Coroner Dr Robert Hunter told jurors that Cairns, a former golf tutor, had been known to psychiatric services for a “considerable number of years” and had been prescribed anti-depressants.

Dr Nitesh Painuly, the consultant psychiatrist who treated Cairns between early 2009 and March 2010 told the jury that knowing his mental health history would not have led him to predict the tragedy. He said that while he was his patient there had been a number of occasions when his depression worsened.

Dr Painuly said that in March 2010 Cairns stopped engaging with the mental health trust. The last time he saw Cairns was in March 2010, when he did not show “clinical signs of depression”, but was “very angry about the treatment we had been giving him” .

Dr Painuly said Cairns wanted a CT scan because he felt they were missing something.
An appointment with various mental health professionals was made for 4th May, 2010, but Cairns did not turn up. At the meeting the health professionals discussed the possibility that Cairns potentially had a “narcissistic personality disorder”. Dr Painuly described this to the inquest jury as someone who does not lose their childish sense of self-importance. He said: “In this personality disorder people remain quite self-obsessed and self-occupied.” adding “And there is some anger if their self-interest is hampered – there’s that sense of entitlement.”

The killer’s family expressed “extreme disappointment” at the failure to provide Cairns with what they called “the proper levels of care”. A statement on behalf of his sister, Diane Belshaw, said: “The family feel they and Andrew were totally let down by the mental health trust; he had mental health issues and was arrested under the Mental Health Act just days before.”

Derbyshire Healthcare, who had treated Cairns for depression for a number of years, said they had sent a “lessons learnt” memo to all staff.

After the deaths, Derbyshire police referred the case to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Its findings will be released later.

Note: This report was drawn from reports in the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, the Derby Telegraph and the Times.

Died April 2012 and August 2007.

Michelle Bickerstaff (47) died in April 2012. Margaret Weise (50) died in August 2007, both in Dromore, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Leslie Ross (66) appeared in court in August 2013 charged with two counts of murder. Both women had had relationships with Ross.

Ross has also been questioned over a third death. Detectives have prepared a file for the Northern Ireland Public Prosecution Service in relation to the death of Elizabeth McKee (52) in December 2002.

He was reportedly also charged with indecent assault, gross indecency with a child and indecently assaulting a female child. He denies all charges.

Ms Bickerstaff’s sister Sharon Sparks has sent a message of sympathy to Ms Weise’s son., Paul Herron. he said “I received a message from Michelle Bickerstaff’s sister wanting to know if we wanted to talk,” adding “I will return her message and see what way things are with her family. I’m sure we can work on things together. Everyone is going through the same kind of pain.”

Mr Herron pleaded for local people to give police any information they have which might lead to answers about his mother’s death. He said “Any information you give could be a piece of the jigsaw. I am sure there are people who know more than they are letting on.”

A relative of Ms Bickerstaff’s described her as “a very, very kind person, a lovely girl”.

Jenny Dickson, daughter of Elizabeth McKee, said she is waiting for information from police and was too upset to add any further comment.

Police have appealed for anyone with information that could help the investigation to come forward. The PSNI can be contacted on 0044 28 38315339, and Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.

Note: This short report was drawn from a report in The Journal and Newsletter of Northern Ireland.

Died 25th December 2012

Charmaine Macmuiris (37), from Carmarthan, Wales, was beaten and stabbed to death on 25th December 2012 at her boyfriend’s home, in Maes yr Ysgol, also in Carmarthan. She was a mother of three children.

David Thomas O’Sullivan (28) admitted Ms Macmuiris’ murder at Swansea Crown Court. He had previously denied the killing, but changed his plea just before the trial began. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and must serve at least 14 years.

Ms Macmuiris had been in a relationship with her killer for only 3 weeks.

The court heard that Ms Macmuiris had been looking forward to celebrating Christmas with her three children, Hannah (20), Ruby (15), and Keilan (12) and toddler granddaughter Pixie.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Macmuiris’s mother Christine said: “She was taken in the most cruellest of ways on the most cruellest of days.” She added: “Charmaine has been robbed of her life. She was a much loved mother, daughter, sister and auntie and we have been devastated by her lose and the shocking manner of her death.”

The court was told that Ms Macmuiris had been wrapping presents for her children before O’Sullivan persuaded her to go for a drink on Christmas Eve. During the course of the evening, there was a disagreement and Ms Macmuiris left after O’Sullivan threw a part-full pint glass over her. However, both were later spotted on CCTV walking towards O’Sullivan’s home.

The court heard he later punched her in the face when she was in the lounge of his house before stabbing her at least 10 times in the bedroom. He then went the pub and returned to eat pizza.

It was reported that while Ms Macmuiris was bleeding to death, her daughter sent a text pleading for her mother to come back home for Christmas.

Police officers went to the house on Christmas Eve after hearing reports of a disturbance, but O’Sullivan told them “everything was OK”.

Prosecutor Patrick Harrington QC told the court: ‘When police officers asked him about cuts to his arm he said he had punched a hole in the wall. A little later he was seen standing outside his home by neighbours, he said he and his girlfriend had argued and he had hit her and she was lying on the bed. But he had not merely hit her, he had stabbed her to death.”

The police were called again on Christmas Day, but only after O’Sullivan’s parents arrived at his home.

Mr Harrington said it was clear that there were “strong indications there was more than one assault”. He added “After, he left the home and went to two pubs and drank lager and bought a pizza – he returned to the address of the murder and ate his pizza”.

The court heard that after a relationship which had lasted only three weeks, O’Sullivan had decided Ms Macmuiris was ‘cheating’ with a male friend. He sent threatening text messages to the man and his family on the night of the murder. Mr Harrington QC said: “Even before that time he showed himself to be possessive and jealous towards her.”

Judge Eleri Rees told him: “This was a vicious and brutal killing. There may have been more than one assault – there is physical evidence of a struggle with blood stains in a variety of locations. You used a kitchen knife to attack Charmaine and death would not have been instantaneous or the result of any one wound or blow. At some point her daughter tried to text her mother and you tried to respond but in a clumsy mistake you sent a text to another person. This was the most callous behaviour to show to someone who you purported to love.”

Speaking after the case, Ed Beltrami, chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in Wales, said: “Today, David O’Sullivan finally admitted his responsibility for a senseless and brutal assault that led to the tragic death of Charmaine Macmuiris. He added “Only O’Sullivan himself can truly know what caused him to carry out such a vicious attack on an entirely innocent victim. What is certain is that those close to Charmaine continue to deal with the truly awful consequences of what he did.”

Mr Beltrami said O’Sullivan’s guilty plea meant the victim’s family had been spared a full criminal trial process, but added: “We are acutely aware that today’s outcome will not bring an end to their sense of loss.”

Detective Chief Inspector Greg Williams, of Dyfed-Powys Police said: “To lose someone is always difficult but even more so on such a significant day. I welcome today’s conviction and hope that it can be used to bring some closure to those deeply touched by the untimely loss of a loved one.”

However, in a statement, Ms MacMuiris’ family said his 14 year sentence was not long enough. They said: “As a family we would like to thank friends, neighbours, and Dyfed Powys Police for all their help and support that has been provided throughout this difficult time. We are glad that O’Sullivan has been sentenced and we were spared a trial. However we do not feel that a minimum term of 14 years reflects the severity of what he has done. We are all still devastated at losing Charmaine.”

O’Sullivan worked as a bricklayer.

Note: This report was taken from reports in the Daily Mail and on the BBC.

By Jean Calder

Mick Philpott’s relationships with women were marked by “control, aggression and fear”, according to the judge who jailed him for life for killing his children. So it’s deeply disappointing that this vicious bully, so in love with attention that he hoped to appear on television as a ‘hero-dad’ who saved his children from a fire he had started, has become a focus of public debate not about abuse, but about welfare.

The Chancellor, George Osborne was wrong to link Philpott with welfare dependency, not because a link does not exist, but because the primary focus of politicians of right and left ought to have been upon the mothers he enslaved and the children he terrorised. Philpott could never have achieved the income he did, had he not had absolute control of the lives, labour and fertility of the two women he lived with, along with their children.

Philpott may have been the ultimate ‘skiver’, to use Osborne’s term, but the other adults present in the household, Mairead Philpott and Lisa Willis, were not. Both women worked hard as cleaners and all household and child care duties were carried out by them. Their wages, tax credits and child benefits were paid directly to Philpott. They were viewed as chattels and held in a state of slavery, as the judge in the case acknowledged. They did not have keys to their own front door, had no control of household finances and could not leave their home without Philpott’s permission. It was an utter corruption of family life.

Politicians who condemned George Osborne’s remarks about Philpott’s welfare dependency have repeatedly described Philpott’s behaviour as ‘unique’. This is untrue. One in 4 women experience domestic violence and two women die each week as a result of violence by partners or former partners. Of recent years, several estranged husbands with a history of violence have killed children.

Police observed that Philpott had a pattern of grooming vulnerable young women. He was 43 and Mairead a single mother of 19 when they met. Pregnant at 16, she had been abused as a child and raped in her teens. Prior to meeting Philpott, she lived with a violent boyfriend. Philpott seemed to offer care and protection, but then became violent. Lisa Willis was a single mother of 17 when Philpott offered her a home. She too was subjected to domestic violence by him, as was Pamela Lomax, his first wife and Heather Kehoe, another young victim who gave evidence in court. Heather Kehoe was 14 when they met and at 16 became pregnant with the first of their two children. Philpott was in his forties. Heather Kehoe told police Philpott held a knife to her throat when she tried to leave him. Eventually, she escaped.

It must have taken extraordinary courage for Lisa Willis to leave Philpott, after years of grooming, manipulation and abuse, especially with five children. As anyone who has worked with victims of domestic violence knows, the more children women have the easier it is for abusers to control them. Leaving with several children is a logistical nightmare, particularly if women have no money, nowhere to live and no transport. Domestic abusers habitually control not just their victims’ fertility, but also their benefits, personal papers and identity documents.

Lisa Willis and Mairead Philpott must have lived in terror. They knew Philpott was violent and unpredictable. He was much older than both and had controlled them since they were young. Trial records show that he used both as sex slaves. He pimped Mairead Philpott to his friend Paul Moseley and forced her into sexual threesomes that he later acknowledged she did not want. Above all, he made sure that all the women he abused were aware he had been convicted of attempted murder for the multiple stabbing in 1978 of Kim Hill, a previous partner who had left him. Philpott broke into her house, stabbed her 27 times, then repeatedly stabbed her mother. Philpott served less than half of a 7 year sentence.

When Lisa Willis finally escaped in February 2012, she did it secretly as so many victims of domestic violence do. She and the children left taking only the clothes they stood up in. Philpott disputed her custody of the children, apparently in the hope that they – and the benefits that attached to them – would be returned to him, and that she would follow. He set the fire in order to frame Lisa Willis, the day before a custody meeting.

Philpott was arrogant and criminally stupid, but the truth is he had some reason to believe his plan might work. His previous experience was that none of the agencies surrounding him had curtailed his activities. He had served a derisory prison sentence after leaving one woman for dead and badly injuring another. The police had failed to protect the women he subsequently abused and social services had done nothing to protect his children. Since 2006, journalists had recognised him to be a source of good copy, treating his domestic regime as an eccentric lifestyle choice, remaining chillingly indifferent to the needs of the women and children. Philpott did not hide his controlling behaviour. Even on the 2007 Jeremy Kyle show, he seemed to revel in his control of Mairead, telling her what to say and speaking for her.

Ann Widdecombe and a television crew later visited his household and failed to see the horror under their noses. As with politicians now, the focus of Widdecombe’s attention was Mick Philpott, rather than the women and children he controlled. Widdecombe was so bamboozled by Philpott (despite the fact that he had called her a bitch and a battleaxe), that even after the children’s deaths and Philpott’s tearless histrionics on television, she said “Nobody would ever call him a bad father.” Even now, the worst she can seem to say of him is that he used the children as a “meal ticket”.

Philpott was maintained in welfare dependency by a benefit system which encouraged him to use women and children as income generators. However, it is unlikely the government’s new benefit ‘cap’ would have safeguarded his victims. If income is reduced, abusive men like Philpott will simply force their partners to work longer hours or pimp them to other men for money. The cap may make it more difficult to maintain a ‘harem’ under one roof, but there will be nothing to stop abusive men controlling women, possibly in several different establishments. There seems little appetite amongst politicians to address the human rights implications of domestic enslavement, still less the political will to challenge polygamy – or even to protect enslaved women and discourage harems by preventing the benefits of several women being paid into a single man’s bank account.

Men like Philpott are protected by two deep-rooted and apparently opposing orthodoxies, both of which discourage intervention. The first is the traditional notion that a man’s home is his castle, where he should be free from interference. The second is the modern ‘liberal’ view that alternative lifestyles and cultures must be equally respected and maintained. The result is that under the guise of protecting family life, freedom of choice or cultural diversity, professionals fail to intervene when powerless people – often women and children – are stripped of their rights.

Politicians do not appear well in any of this. Successive governments have failed to properly challenge the sexism and attitudes of contempt for women that give rise to grooming, sexual exploitation, rape and domestic violence. Recent cuts in legal aid and housing benefits will make it more difficult for women to leave violent partners. Despite the government’s undoubted commitment to assist victims of domestic violence, it has failed to ring-fence funding for local domestic violence services and even child protection services are under threat. It is true that since the death of Baby P the government has placed a greater emphasis on swift resolution of child protection matters and speedier adoption – and that following the Rochdale scandal there is now greater awareness of the systematic abuse of adolescent girls. However, previous Conservative and Labour governments fostered a culture of non-intervention and a policy of keeping families together almost at all costs – and the effects of this remain. For decades, police and social services failed to protect teenage girls, treating 13 as the de facto age of consent, putting neglected girls at risk of sexual exploitation by adult males and vulnerable teenage mothers at the mercy of men such as Philpott. Politicians stigmatised these mothers, blaming them for raising ‘feral children’ while the media obsessed about the need for male role models and increased contact with estranged fathers – not realising that these children often already had deeply damaging male role models, many of whom were their own violent fathers and step fathers. As a consequence men such as Philpott were not challenged, but reinforced in their position.

Philpott was protected by the indifference of professionals, the prurience of the media and the narrow gaze of politicians, who could see only fecklessness when they should have cried out against sexism, exploitation and abuse. It is probable that had key agencies acted as they should to assist and empower the women, restrain their abusers and protect the young, all the children might well be alive today.

Died 14th March 2003

Jane Longhurst (31) was strangled to death in a flat in Waterloo Street, Brighton, Sussex on 14th March 2003. Her body was desecrated and later found burning in woodland in Wiggonholt Common near Pulborough, West Sussex on 19th April. Graham Coutts (then 35) was convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Jane Longhurst was a very popular special needs teacher and talented viola player, who lived in Shaftesbury Road, Brighton, with her partner. She worked at a local school and assisted with the Brighton Youth Orchestra.

Coutts was the partner of Ms Longhurst’s close friend, Lisa Stevens, also a teacher. He killed Jane Longhurst at the flat he shared with Ms Stevens in Waterloo Street, Hove. He is believed to have raped her when she was unconscious and to have sexually abused her body when dead. He kept the body for 35 days, at first in a shed, and later, in a storage box, at the Big Yellow storage warehouse in Brighton. He visited her body at the warehouse on several occasions for short periods. Detectives found a used condom and strongly suspected sexual activity. On 18th April, Coutts wheeled the box containing Ms Longhurst’s now very de-composed body to his car, kept it overnight and then the next day drove out to the countryside and set her body on fire.

Liz Longhurst believes her daughter had been “groomed” by Coutts so she wouldn’t suspect him. She said “I think about Jane all the time. I still have questions. I do think about how much planning he had done. Had he been watching Jane, just biding his time? She went to his home to see the new kitten he and Lisa had bought. I feel that even that was a ploy to reel her in. Jane was so gentle, so trusting. She was easy bait.”

Police believe Coutts may have been particularly attracted by Jane Longhurst because she was pretty and had an air of innocence about her. She also looked very young and had a very beautiful neck. Her mother described her as a “very spiritual person”.

Jailing Coutts for life, Judge Richard Brown said: “Everything that this court has heard about Jane showed her to be the sort of person who enriched all those who came into contact with her. The undoubted love of her partner, her life, her work and her music and her family screamed out of every page of the evidence I have heard in this case. In seeking perverted sexual gratification by way of your sordid and evil fantasies you have taken her life and devastated the lives of all those she loved and who loved her. By persisting in your denial you have put them through the ordeal of this courtroom and have forced them to live the last moments of her life and by the unbelievable degradation of her body you have shown not one jot of remorse.”

Coutts had had a fascination with strangling women since he was 15 years old and had a history of abusive behaviour towards females. Former partner Sandra Gates reported that he once said: “I want to rape and strangle a woman.” This was some 10 years before he killed Ms Longhurst. Another ex-partner told how she caught him hiding in a wardrobe watching her young daughter undress. The woman was so worried she persuaded him to seek professional help. Two former girlfriends of Coutts were reported to have agreed to his requests for “consensual” strangulation.

Coutts saw a psychiatrist with the old Brighton Health Authority in the early Nineties but after an initial consultation refused treatment. He told a doctor that he feared he would one day kill a woman. The court heard he regularly viewed extreme pornography on the internet and for some 8 years, downloaded thousands of pictures involving murder, rape, strangulation and necrophilia. Records show he was active on the internet on evenings immediately before and after killing Jane. The night before her death he downloaded pictures of dead women, strangulation, rape and murder.

After sentencing, Ms Longhurst’s sister Sue Barnett and her mother Liz Longhurst wept in the public gallery. Coutts’ former partner, Sandra Gates, leant towards him over the dock and shouted in his face: “You pervert.”

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Dennis, who was in charge of the case, said outside court: “A very dangerous man has been put away and I’m very pleased for that.”

Coutts was convicted of murder on 3rd February 2004, and sentenced to a life term serving a minimum of 30 years. Coutts compounded the agony of Jane Longhurst’s family and friends by alleging she died after a “consensual asphyxial sex session” went wrong. He subsequently challenged both the sentence and the conviction. The original tariff of 30 years was reduced to 26 years on appeal on 26th January 2005. The conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on 19th July 2006, and a new trial started on 12th June 2007. He was again found guilty on 4th July 2007.

In 2009, following a long campaign led by Liz Longhurst, possession of sexually violent and extreme pornography including torture, rape and necrophilia became illegal and was included in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill. The ban was backed by Jane Longhurst’s MP David Lepper and Liz Longhurst’s MP Martin Salter as well as Harriet Harman MP, the then Home Secretary David Blunkett MP and many others. They presented a petition to Parliament of more than 50,000 signatures. Anyone in possession of extreme sexually violent images now faces up to three years in jail.

Note: This report was drawn from reports in the Daily Mail, the BBC and the Argus.

FOD Comment:

Liz Longhurst has expressed disappointment that the legislation she fought for, is still not widely used and that judges are able to rule such evidence inadmissable in cases of rape and murder. She cites the case of Joanna Yeates who was strangled by Vincent Tabak. He too had accessed sexually violent pornography and alleged that he killed by accident. He was found guilty, but the jury had to make its decision lacking key evidence.

On the eve of the tenth anniversary of Jane Longhurst’s death, For Our Daughters salutes Liz Longhurst’s courage and acknowledges the depth of her grief and that of other family members and friends. Jane, your life is an inspiration to us. Rest in Peace.

Died 17th January 2012

Carolyn Ann Ellis (32) was strangled and stabbed to death on 17th January 2012 in a stairwell at her home in West Tollcross, Edinburgh. She suffered 45 knife wounds and was throttled with a belt, as neighbours tried to save her.

Douglas Lawrence (29), Ms Ellis’ former partner, pleaded guilty to culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility. He had been accused of murdering Ms Ellis but his guilty plea to a reduced charge of culpable homicide was accepted by the court.

On 13th February 2013, judge Lord Uist made an order keeping Lawrence in the State Hospital. He cannot leave without the agreement of the Scottish Ministers. He was told there was no minimum restriction to the length of time he will spend in Carstairs and is subject to lifetime restriction conditions.

At court, Lawrence also admitted assaulting Pauline Smith by striking her with a knife, struggling with Christeen MacKenzie and kicking her and kicking and punching Peter Scolley during the struggle on17th January 2012. He also admitted an attack on a male nursing assistant while he was being held in the State Hospital at Carstairs.

Carolyn Ellis was a student. In a statement issued through Lothian and Borders Police after her death, her parents, Judy and Bernard Ellis, said: “Carolyn Ann was a wonderful and caring person who always made time for her family and many friends. She lit up the world of everyone she met and was very popular. No one ever had a bad word to say about her. As a family, we are devastated to have lost such a special daughter and sister and we would now ask for privacy as we try to come to terms with our grief.”

Ms Ellis had some mental health problems and met Lawrence at a psychiatric out-patients service. Advocate depute Michael Stuart said: “In around November 2010 the accused and Ms Ellis formed an intimate relationship.” They separated a year later, reportedly because of mental health difficulties.

On 11th November, 2011, Lawrence told doctors of his thoughts of violence towards Ms Ellis. He was told to return to the hospital clinic three days later. By then his condition had improved, but on 17th November Lawrence told a consultant psychiatrist about his violent thoughts and another review was fixed for 12th February 2012. There is no reported information about whether Ms Ellis was ever warned or whether the police were informed.

On 17th January Lawrence took a bus to the flat in West Tollcross, Edinburgh, where Ms Ellis lived. They talked for a while in her sitting room before she asked him to leave, and be became angry and started to attack her. Ground floor neighbours Ms Smith and Ms MacKenzie heard Ms Ellis shouting for help. They opened their front door to see Lawrence with his arm round her throat, punching her head until she fell to the ground. Mr Stuart said Lawrence knelt over Ms Ellis as she lay, face down. Mr Stuart said: “At this point Pauline Smith and Christeen MacKenzie realised that the accused had wrapped a belt round the deceased’s neck and was twisting the belt to tighten it.” Ms Ellis was yelling she could not breathe as Lawrence put his foot on her back and continued to pull the belt against her throat. Ms MacKenzie was kicked to the floor as she tried to pull him away.

As Ms Smith struggled to loosen the belt, Ms MacKenzie opened the front door of the block of flats to shout for help. The sound brought Peter Scolley into the common stair and he helped wrestle the belt from Lawrence and throw it away.

After punching Mr Scolley, Lawrence began kicking Ms Ellis and stamping on her head. Lawrence disappeared into Ms Ellis’ flat and came back with a knife which he began swinging at Ms Smith’s head before gashing her right arm, leaving her permanently scarred. Mr Stuart described Lawrence kneeling and straddling Ms Ellis and holding the knife in both hands as he stabbed at her head. He said Lawrence had “used such force that the tip of the knife broke off, later being recovered from the deceased’s scalp at post mortem.” The attack severed major blood vessels and Ms Ellis bled to death, the court heard. Police arrived at the flat and could see Lawrence continuing to stab Ms Ellis, through the door. They shouted to him to stop and, by the time the officers had got through the buzzer entry system, Lawrence had retreated to Ms Ellis’ flat. When he refused to put down the knife police sprayed him with CS Gas then handcuffed him.

At court Lord Uist heard psychiatrists describe Lawrence’s Asperger’s Syndrome and schizophrenia. Consultant Dr Ian Dewar said: “We know from Lawrence himself and psychiatric records and his family that Lawrence has struggled with aggressive thoughts over many, many years.”

Note: This report was drawn from reports in the BBC and STV Edinburgh.

Died 13th June 2012

Angela Crompton (34), nee Phillips, was found severely injured on 11th June 2012 at her home in Manor Farm Cottages, in Arminghall near Norwich, and died 2 days later on 13th June at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. She had been struck with a hammer several times and had severe head injuries. She was the mother of 3 children.

Thomas Crompton (39), Ms Crompton’s husband of 3 months, admitted killing her, but denied murder. He was found guilty of manslaughter due to loss of control at Norwich Crown Court on 14th December 2012 and has been jailed for seven and a half years. Ms Crompton was his second wife.

Following her death Ms Crompton’s family said: “We have lost a daughter, sister, mother and aunt in the most horrific circumstances. Angela was a beautiful and vivacious young woman with a gift for artistry and creativity. It is a tragedy for everyone that her young life has ended so abruptly. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the staff at the Norfolk and Norwich and Addenbrooke’s hospitals who made Angela’s final hours as bearable as possible, and our thanks to the police for their ongoing support during the impossible days ahead.”

The court heard that on the afternoon of 11th June 2012 Crompton, a sculptor, had been working with a colleague in his foundry, creating metal sculptures. When taking a break from his work and returning into the house, Crompton said he argued violently with Angela. Witnesses heard crockery being smashed. After the argument, he tried to strangle Ms Crompton, possibly causing her to pass out and then attacked her with a hammer he used in his work, hitting her several times.

Crompton told the court that as their relationship had developed he had become obsessed with ms Crompton. He said she had previously left him suddenly, which Crompton said hurt him because they had been talking about marriage. The couple subsequently did decide to marry. However, it was claimed that Ms Crompton was not happy in her husband’s house and wanted to redecorate. He claimed this caused the argument between them.

Peter Gair, prosecuting, told the court: “Angela told him she was going to start decorating and that she had started to put some of his things into a box. He was concerned his items may be damaged. He said he was really annoyed and that this turned into a massive row.”

Crompton returned to the foundry with the hammer, saying to his colleague that he had killed her. His colleague persuaded Crompton they needed to return and check on Ms Crompton who was found to be alive. Officers were called and administered first aid before Ms Crompton was taken to hospital with serious head injuries.

In interview Crompton claimed that the melting iron process is very precise and demands considerable concentration and focus. He said that he had also been worrying about Angela’s health and hadn’t slept for the previous three days.

During the trial, the defence presented a picture of Ms Crompton as someone who had had a troubled life and several abusive relationships with men. Crompton, who described Ms Crompton as “self-deprecating”, acknowledged that they had had an increasing numbers of arguments. However, he said he was not abusive, but often hurt when – he alleged – she compared him to other partners. He claimed “She used to say things to upset me and make me feel bad,”. He said he had been advised by a previous partner of Ms Crompton’s, whose relationship with her had ended badly, not to become involved with her.

A sculptor-colleague who had worked with Crompton since 2006, was in his workshop on the day of the killing. He described how Crompton returned from the house and placed a hammer on the bench in front of him saying “that is it. I have killed her”. He returned to the house with Crompton and found Ms Crompton alive. It was this colleague who called 999.

The colleague said that 10 days earlier, on 1st June Crompton had come into the workshop with bags of kitchen knives. He told his workmate that his wife had threatened to hurt herself and he wanted to keep the knives away from her.

Jurors subsequently found Crompton guilty of manslaughter due to loss of control.

Ms Crompton’s family said they were “deeply disappointed” with the outcome. In a statement released after the sentencing, they said: “The fact the defendant will only serve half of today’s sentence before being released is merely salt in the wound. His actions have left three deeply bereaved children to grow up without a mother and have put all our family through a dreadful ordeal of intensive care, funeral and court. During the court case it felt that Angela herself was on trial, and in many ways that has been the hardest part for us. We feel Angela and her family have been let down in this case by the justice system.”

On behalf of Ms Crompton’s family, her brother said:

“When Angela married Tom Crompton in March this year we all hoped she had found the stability and happiness she wanted. A little over three months later he had killed her. We do accept that the actions of Tom Crompton on 11 June 2012 were out of character. However, those actions have deprived three young children of their mother and put our entire family through a long and very painful ordeal. We are disappointed that the defence case focused on Angela’s character and personal problems as if seeking to justify Tom Crompton’s actions. We do not believe his actions on that day can ever be justified. It is true that Angela was a troubled person and we hope that she has found the peace she was always searching for in life. It is also our hope that, in time, Tom Crompton will be able to come to terms with what he did and with the consequences of his actions. Finally, our family would like to express our thanks to the Norfolk and Norwich University and Addenbrooke’s Hospitals who cared for Angela before she died and to Norfolk Police for supporting us throughout the last six difficult months.”

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Firm, of Norfolk Constabulary, said: “This was a brutal attack on someone Crompton claimed to love. Violence is never a good resolution to an argument and this is a tragic end to this couple’s relationship, leaving their children and families devastated.”

Note: This report was drawn from reports in the Norwich Evening News, the BBC, EDP24, Heart 102.4.

For Our Daughters Notes:

We view this case with horror. We find it hard to accept that a man who first strangled a woman and then lifted and used an industrial sized hammer as a weapon 3 times can be said to have lost control. We do not believe that alleged domestic ‘arguments’ or sleeplessness are any justification or excuse for such loss of control or violence and are amazed that a dispute about household decorating or displaced goods could in any sense be thought to explain homicide. We deplore the fact that Ms Crompton’s personal history was used against her in court. We are shocked at the remarkably short prison sentence imposed. We agree with Ms Crompton’s family that she and her family have been let down by a criminal justice system that appears to have put the victim on trial rather than her killer.

We note that violent and controlling men are often attracted to and target vulnerable women who have previously been victims of abusive relationships. Women who experience serial abuse by more than one partner deserve help and support – not vilification. Above all, they need a criminal justice system which works for and not against them.